


with bloody hands we all drum together

by ikuzonos



Series: V3 WLW Ship Week [1]
Category: Dangan Ronpa, New Dangan Ronpa V3: Everyone's New Semester of Killing
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, F/F, NDRV3 Spoilers, Post-Canon
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-03-19
Updated: 2018-03-19
Packaged: 2019-04-04 17:38:47
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,042
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14025285
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ikuzonos/pseuds/ikuzonos
Summary: Maki visits Shirogane in the hospital.For V3 WLW Ship Week. Day One: Ink





	with bloody hands we all drum together

The silence in the hospital room is almost overwhelming, with the only sound being the beeps of the monitors that line the walls, and the shaky rise and fall of Shirogane’s chest.

Maki closes her eyes, hiding from the searing hot lights for one moment. She has no idea why she came here. Shirogane is supposed to be  _ dead. _

True, there was never any confirmation, but Maki had assumed that being crushed by rubble would be enough to kill anyone. Apparently not so.

“You actually came,” Shirogane murmurs, “I didn’t expect you to.”

Maki reaches for her hair, hoping to grip it for comfort, only to remember that she had chopped it into a bob the previous month.

Instead, she says, “Believe me, I didn’t expect to either. When Team  _ Dangan Ronpa _ called to tell me you were alive… I thought I was dreaming.”

Shirogane laughs weakly, but it turns into a cough, “Sometimes, I wish it was a dream.”

The ringleader’s own hair is tied into a loose ponytail with a rubber band, but it still seems to be suffocating her.

Maki asks, “How long do they expect you to be here?”

“I have no idea,” she replies, “Most of my bones are broken. I’m very lucky to have survived… or so they say.”

Maki scratches the wall with her too sharp nails, “I guess I’ll have to keep visiting, then. Until you recover.”

“Why?” Shirogane asks, quirking an eyebrow.

Maki shrugs, “Somebody has to. And it sure as hell won’t be the other two.”

Shirogane’s eyes grow glossy, “Do they… hate me that much?”

Maki shrugs, “Saihara does. Yumeno… I don’t know about. She’d take kinder to you than he would, but so would a wasp nest.”

“Ah,” Shirogane whispers.

Another long silence falls over the room. They don’t have anything in common, except for being unwilling survivors of the last season of the world’s most sickening reality show.

_ Why did I come here? _

She certainly didn’t have to visit the private hospital. Didn’t have to sneak out of the apartment at quarter after midnight. And yet she felt compelled to… as if Tsumugi Shirogane was the most important person in the world.

Maki shivers. Suddenly, her fur lined jacket isn’t warm enough anymore.

“Shirogane… What’s that on your hand?” Maki asks suddenly, noticing an array of blue dots. She assumed it to be part of her hair, but it doesn’t seem to be the case anymore.

Shirogane awkwardly turns her hand over, “It’s nothing interesting. They… gave me a pen. But they won’t give me paper or anything, so I just draw on myself.”

Maki blinks, “Oh.”

“It’s childish, but there’s nothing else to do in here,” Shirogane says.

Maki tucks a strand of hair behind her ear, “What’s wrong with something being childish? A past time is a past time.”

Shirogane says, “The drawings never turn out any good… My hands shake too much.”

“Where’s your pen now?” Maki asks.

Shirogane jerks her head towards the tray that lies next to her bed. Sure enough, a blue ink pen sits upon it, next to a medication bottle.

Maki picks up the pen and uncaps it, then kneels down next to Shirogane’s bed and takes her hand.

Shirogane tenses slightly at first as Maki begins to draw on her hand, but doesn’t protest. Maki herself is no artist, but the flowers she’s pressing into the other girl’s skin don’t look half bad.

When she’s done, Shirogane’s hand and wrist look like a garden.

“It’s beautiful,” Shirogane whispers, “Thank you.”

Maki shrugs, “I tried my best. I’ll bring more pens next time… Ones in different colours too.”

“Next time?” Shirogane echoes.

Maki says, “Did you think you’d be getting rid of me so easily? I’ll be back every night, assuming I can sneak out.”

Shirogane’s brows furrow.

“Saihara and Yumeno don’t know that you’re alive,” Maki admits, “I didn’t think it would be a good idea to tell them.”

Shirogane looks upset by her words, but says, “You’re probably right.”

Maki gently brushes Shirogane’s face, “I won’t let them hurt you. I promise.”

“Why?” Shirogane asks, confusion seeping into her voice, “Why, Harukawa-san? I thought you hated me.”

Maki looks away for a second, “I never hated you. I hated Team  _ Dangan Ronpa  _ for all the shit they pulled.”

Shirogane says, “But you should hate me too, then. For working for them… for loving their show.”

Maki says, “You were a corporate puppet. You know that better than I do. And… I can’t get rid of my memories of the killing game itself. I always thought of you as my friend.”

“You did?” Shirogane’s eyes widen, “Despite… the script?”

“Despite the script,” Maki echoes, “I may not be human, but keeping to a rigid guideline is almost impossible.”

Tears glisten in the other girl’s eyes, “If you’re not human, what on earth am I?”

Maki squeezes her inked hand, smudging the flowers and staining her own skin, “I don’t know. Maybe we’re the same.”

“Maybe,” Shirogane whispers, sounding breathless.

Maki doesn’t know which one of them leaned in first, but what she does know is that all of a sudden, she’s kissing Shirogane and Shirogane is kissing her back.

They stay in the uncomfortable position for some time, Maki’s bony knees digging into the hard floor, with their faces pressed together. Shirogane’s lips are softer than anything she’s ever known.

When they finally pull apart, Shirogane whispers, “I hope you’re not taking pity on me.”

Maki laughs, “I was about to say the same thing.”

A weak smile makes its way onto Shirogane’s face. And they are the same, Maki thinks. Two less than human girls with wounded eyes, broken souls, and ink stained hands.

Before she slinks off back into the darkness, Maki kisses her another time. How lucky she is, that someone else on this damned planet seems to know exactly what’s going on inside her head.

 

The next night, Maki returns with six pens, one for each missing colour of the rainbow. She stays there until dawn, inking every inch of Shirogane’s skin, and staining her own along the way.

Childish, perhaps, but the ink is a much nicer thing to have on her hands than blood.


End file.
